"Our team is passionate about making a meaningful impact in our community. We are a curious and creative group of students with a shared vision to improve current sustainability practices and raise environmental awareness within Hamilton. Our goal is to learn, embrace new perspectives, and drive innovative solutions."

Personal protective equipment (PPE) pollution is a massive concern exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. We wanted to provide an innovative solution for combating PPE pollution in the environment by proposing an idea that was both straightforward and simple. Our initiative proposes the implementation of purple-coloured PPE disposal bins and a promotional campaign to garner more attention towards the issue of PPE pollution in the environment through a video directing individuals towards these bins. Our initiative is focused on enabling appropriate PPE disposal and providing a simpler and less difficult method for sorting facilities to manage PPE waste. Furthermore, it provides a simpler platform to inform the public of alternative PPE disposal options. Our intiative focuses on addressing the environmental problem of pollution and mitigating its impacts on future generations. 

How might we raise general public awareness of proper mask and glove disposal in government healthcare settings to mitigate the effects of waste generated in Hamilton on the environment? 

Our team's solution is a product of human-centred design, which involves individuals immersing themselves in the creative and developmental process. This problem-solving technique allows us to brainstorm solutions and tackle arising barriers from a human perspective. The approach allows us to actively engage with every aspect of the process, from learning important information regarding our HMWQ to ideating various solutions!

Our project is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG). The SDGs are a collection of international developmental goals with the objective to, "end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity" (UNDP). By identifying the SDGs pertinent to our HMWQ, we can ensure that we are addressing all relevant aspects of the goal.

Prior to speaking with our community stakeholders, we conducted some preliminary background research in order to develop a better understanding of our problem. Using these findings, we developed a list of questions for our stakeholders and received informative, yet meaningful insight!

To measure the success of our initiative, we have established two key metrics. First, we will measure the compliance rate by conducting audits or spot checks on the disposal bins. This will allow us to determine how many people are following the proper procedures for PPE disposal. Second, we will track the amount of PPE waste generated before and after the initiative. If the waste decreases significantly, it means that the initiative is working.

We propose to redesign the existing PPE disposal bins in a manner that will make them more recognizable and appealing. There is an unmistakable correlation between the colour blue and recycling or green and compost, so we would like to form a similar contingency for PPE waste. Our goal is to make the new disposal bins accessible in areas with increased PPE waste disposal, such as hospitals and healthcare settings. We hope that the availability of such bins for solely disposing PPE will promote public awareness and encourage individuals to dispose of their personal protective equipment appropriately.

Our experience with MacChangers has undoubtedly been one of growth, perseverance and creativity. Being given the opportunity to discover a new challenge area within the Hamilton community and avidly researching background information, allowed us to familiarize ourselves with the impact of our chosen problem. Conecting with our stakeholders during the community events allowed us to explore new insights/perspectives while learning about the gaps we had in our knowledge. From there on, we truly got to immerse ourselves in the creative process while critically thinking of novel ways to improve our solution and next steps. In addition to the progress on our project, we greatly developed our collaboration, problem-solving, critical thinking, project management and leadership skills! Needless to say, our journey on MacChangers was eye-opening and enjoyable and we are thrilled to have been given this opportunity!